Composite package



Feb. 18, 1936. A, MCCALLUM 2,31,381

COMPOS ITE PACKAGE Filed July 24, 1934 ai M 4 Patented Feb. 18, 1936 Us: TED STATES PATENT oFFrc E N. "J.,"a corporation of New Jersey Application'July 24, 1934, Serial Nof'zacnsz 2 Claims. (olfzo'e m This invention relates to improvements in cartons and particularly to cartons having upper and lower compartments adapted to have packaged therein two materials of different character and of difierent weight in such fashion that the heavier contents of one compartment will not damage the contents of the other compartment .regardless of whether the package rests on the end normally constituting the bottom or whether the package is inverted.

More particularly, the composite package consists of a paper casing provided with a horizontal partition, the partition being formed by the base of a U-shaped member. Said member is loose within the casing and divides the casing into upper and lower compartments. The heavier contents of the package are placed. in the lower compartment and the more fragile contents in the upper but to protect the more fragile contents in the event the package should be inverted, the sides of said U-shaped member engage the end wall of the carton and are heavy enough to sustain the load transmitted to them through the partition proper.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in certain details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will hereinafter be more fully described and the novel features thereof particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete package;

Fig. 2 shows, in perspective, the partition member and the contents of the upper compartment removed from the casing; and

Fig. 3 is a Vertical section through the package.

The present package has been designed especially for packaging a ready-mixed cake flour and a group of light paper cups in which so -called cup-cakes can be made from the flour. In view of the fact that the flour is comparatively heavy and the light paper cups can be rather easily crushed or mashed, it is desirable to provide protection for the cups should the package be so placed as to position the flour above the cups. With this thought in mind, the present carton or casing is made with its sides IE3 of single ply cardboard and its ends or flaps II adapted to be folded upon one another and secured by suitable adhesive.

The unit of flour, usually enough to make a dozen cup cakes is contained within a suitable wrapping l2 and occupies what is the normal lower compartment within the carton or casing.

This compartment is formed by a transverse partition member l3 loose in the carton, and above said partition there is an upper compartment for the paper cups M. It will be apparent that should the package be inverted, placing the flour above the cups, the weight of the flour will crush or distort the cups and render them useless. This is especially true in view of the fact that, for economical reasons in production, the partition member is not attached in any way to the side walls of the container.

Therefore, in th present package, the partition I3 is formed by the base of a cardboard member .of U-shape cross-section, the sides of said member, indicated at l5, being 0t such length as to limit the movement of the partition under the weight of the flour. In other words, the free ends of sides 15 will engage against the end of the carton and sustain the load transmitted to them by partition l3 and, at the same time, hold the partition in spaced relation to the cups, it being understood that said sides are made of cardboard sufficiently heavy to withstand the crushing strain imposed thereon by such load.

It will be seen that the present package can be made up very economically, as the sides of the carton are of single thickness and there is only one partitition member. Furthermore, the partition need not be secured to the sides of the carton. This reduces the cost of construction as successive partitions l3 and their attached side members l5, in fiat formation, can be fed to a position above successive cartons in which the flour has been previously deposited, as shown in Fig. 2, and the partition forced into the carton by a plunger (not shown), the folding of the flat member being facilitated by score lines [6 in the material. Neither do the arms l5 have to be made accurate as to length. So long as the package is positioned with the fiour beneath the cups, it is not necessary for the free ends of said arms to contact the upper end wall of the casing. It is only necessary that they be of sufiicient length to protect the cups when the package is inverted, under which conditions the weight of the flour above the partition will cause the latter to slide until the arms engage the carton end.

Usually the cups are rather fancy, being colored and provided with some attractive design. For this reason, it is preferred that one side of the carton have an opening I! therein through which the cups may be seen. The opening may be cov ered with some transparent material secured to the carton itself although, in actual practice, the

entire package is wrapped with transparent material, as indicated at [8. In this connection, it will be appreciated that in placing the partition member in the carton, the opening [1 must not be closed by the sides l5. While it is preferred to use a partition member with only two side pieces 15, it is possible to provide an additional side Without interfering with opening I1.

What I claim is:

1. A composite package consisting of a casing, a partition member slidable in said casing and arranged transversely thereof, a body of relatively heavy material packed between said partition and one end of said casing and normally supporting said partition, a fragile content packed between said partition and the opposite end of the casing, and extensions at the side edges of said partition movable against said opposite end of the casing when the latter rests on said end,

said partition and extensions having sufficient strength to support said body of relatively heavy material and said extensions being of a length exceeding the depth of said fragile content whereby the latter will be protected against crushing when the casing rests on said opposite end.

2. A composite package composed of an elongated casing, a U-shaped member slidable 10ngitudinally within said casing, the base of said member dividing said casing into upper and lower compartments for separate articles of merchandise, the sides of said U-shaped member being of a length greater than the depth of the article packed in the upper compartment and adapted to abut against the upper end wall of easing when the latter is inverted and said U-shaped member being of sufiicient strength to support the contents of the lower compartment.

' ARTHUR MCCALLUM. 

